Management of assets owned by an enterprise begins with the physical hardware being delivered to the enterprise. Protocols are often set for procurement, reception, deployment, etc., of the hardware. But enterprises have traditionally limited what information is gathered and maintained for those asset being used, e.g. by an employee of the enterprise. Consequently, enterprises usually have an incomplete understanding of ownership, location, and state of each asset and are unable to accurately monitor assets throughout their lifecycles.
Assets that are never properly reported to an inventory management system present assorted risks for an enterprise. A better understanding of certain characteristics could be used to optimize asset usage and value to the enterprise.